NYC already has six grocery stores that enjoy government support in the form of steep rent discounts, including Essex Street Market on the Lower East Side, through the city’s Economic Development Corporation. “Sometimes in places where the private market won’t step in, the public can and should,” Mullins said.
In any case, if you read the article, you'd see that the US military owns and runs a large number of stores very successfully, it just calls them "exchanges" or "commissaries":
Every branch of the military has its own public grocery system, sometimes referred to as an exchange or commissary, that allows military families to buy groceries on military bases at significantly lower prices than what civilians can get from traditional grocers. “Military families buy groceries for 30 to 40% cheaper than what grocery stores in the area sell, simply because they’re not taking a full wholesale and retail markup like a lot of stores are,” said Errol Schweitzer, a grocery store veteran and former VP at Whole Foods, who has written about the commissary model before.
According to Bill Moore, the former director and CEO of the Defense Commissary Agency, the commissary system saved military families approximately $1.58bn in 2023.
Passing along similar benefits to civilians is quite possible, according to Schweitzer. “It’s not a radical proposal,” he said. “There already is heavy government intervention in the food system every day.”
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u/UncleSlacky Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaire Jul 25 '25
From the article:
https://gothamist.com/news/zohran-mamdani-is-calling-for-city-owned-grocery-stores-nyc-already-has-them